Cirrus des Aigles leads Hong Kong racing fields

Some of the world's top horses will compete in Hong Kong this weekend at one of the richest meetings on the global racing calendar, among them Cirrus des Aigles, winner of Britain's Champion Stakes. The French raider pulled off a shock victory in Britain's most valuable race at Ascot in October, when the 12/1 shot beat favourite So You Think, and is now listed as the joint number-two horse in the World Thoroughbred Rankings. His Ascot win was marred by a row over jockey Christophe Soumillon's use of the whip, when he was fined 50,000 pounds and suspended for five days, but Soumillon will be on board again for the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday. International bookmakers make Cirrus des Aigles favourite for the 2,000-metre race, with Hong Kong champion Ambitious Dragon -- bidding to become the first home horse to win the race for six years -- close behind in the betting. The race has a prize purse of HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) -- HK$11.4 million for the winner -- and is one of four Group One contests in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races. One of the world's richest meetings, the event draws top horses -- this year including 22 international Group One winners -- trainers and jockeys to the territory's Sha Tin course with prize money totalling HK$68 million. The 2,400-metre Hong Kong Vase sees a re-match between France's Dunaden and England's Red Cadeaux, the winner and runner-up in Australia's biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup, in November. Dunaden is the favourite but came home in a photo finish in Melbourne and that race was substantially longer at 3,200 metres, while also in the field this time is Campanologist, from the Maktoum family's Godolphin stable and ridden by Frankie Dettori. Trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who won the Vase last year, said: "You need a very good horse to win this race. Campanologist is a stronger horse than before and this is his time of year. "He is very healthy and sound and this is his best trip." French mare Sahpresa, three times the winner of Britain's Sun Chariot Stakes, lines up in the Hong Kong Mile, with last year's local winner Beauty Flash hoping for a repeat, but the race is wide open according to the bookies. In the 1,200-metre Sprint, Singapore's Rocket Man is the favourite in pre-race day betting, but the world's second-highest-rated speedster will have to overcome a tough wide draw in gate 13 of 14. Horse racing is by far the biggest spectator sport in the former British colony, where the Jockey Club has a monopoly on legal betting, and a crowd of tens of thousands of people is expected.